Patagonia Is Fighting Trump's Attempts to Eliminate Protected Land

Patagonia is done. It's done with aggressive threats to its mission of saving the earth for outdoors enthusiasts. It's done with the attempt to eliminate vast swaths of land at Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. And it is definitely done with Donald Trump.

Yesterday, the president announced plans to slash 2 million acres of protected federal land in Utah. The new boundaries will reduce Bears Ears National Monument, which Obama established in 2016, by 85 percent. Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, established by Bill Clinton in 1996, will be reduced to around half of its current size. It's the largest elimination of protected land in American history.

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And Patagonia—an eco-conscious company founded on a mission to preserve and be kind to the earth—is pissed. Very pissed. Rose Marcario, president and CEO of Patagonia, released a statement on the company's behalf:

Americans have overwhelmingly spoken out against the Trump Administration’s unprecedented attempt to shut down our national monuments. The Administration’s unlawful actions betray our shared responsibility to protect iconic places for future generations and represent the largest elimination of protected land in American history. We’ve fought to protect these places since we were founded and now we’ll continue that fight in the courts.

Patagonia has long had alliances with land conservation groups, many of which have plans to sue over the Trump Administration's decision, which seems to be based on the idea that the Antiquities Act used by Obama and Clinton to establish these national monuments also allows for the current president to eliminate them. The courts' decision on the matter could alter the course of American conservation for years to come, potentially opening up even more protected land to mining, logging, drilling, and more.

Regardless of your position on the issues here, this is a big deal. Kudos to Patagonia for taking a stand.

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